Moments Like These
by WhatTheF-ckHaveYouDoneLately
Summary: One-shot. Three year old Olivia and her father Sterling spend the day at the zoo together...father/daughter fluff ensues! Written for a prompt.


**Author's Note:**

**Made for a prompt by the lovely anonymous "christian" XD Hope this is what you had in mind! I've been wanting to write some Olivia/Sterling fatherly daughterly fluffleness, so here it is. This is pre!Leverage, set way before the team was assembled and all that. Totally Sterling centric, lots of father/daughter fluff. Thanks in advance to any anonymous reviewers (that means you, christian), since I obviously can't reply (:**

**Prompt:**

"**Single parent Jim Sterling is taking his 3 year old daughter Olivia too the zoo. And both of them tired from their adventure end up taking a nap on the park bench. Sterling on his back while Olivia on his belly."**

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><p>James "Jim" Sterling had led his life convinced that he simply wasn't cut out for parenthood. He was aggressive and cutthroat; a child would surely hinder his progress in his career, right? Sterling wasn't cruel, he knew that it wouldn't be fair to either of them if he had a child. He was simply unable to offer her anything stable. It didn't occur to him then, when he first began pondering how ill suited he'd be as a father, than even then he thought of his child as a girl. He may have not realized it, but he longed for a child…he longed for a <em>daughter<em>.

That's probably how he ended up where he is now, walking hand in hand with his three year old daughter Olivia, who had somehow managed to talk him into taking her to the zoo. His wife had divorced him only a year after she was born, bluntly telling him that he could, in her words, have the little brat. Now here he was, a single parent raising a three year old girl. It wasn't as easy as they made it out to be on movies and TV shows. There were some nights when he would lay awake, wondering if he'd made the right decision in not fighting the custody battle and taking the raising of Olivia all upon himself.

Then she'd crawl in bed with him, sniffling and saying she'd had a nightmare…and he'd forget all his doubts.

Now he was being pulled along by the hand, his daughter's hair flying around her head in a chaotic tangle as she hauled him over to the sea otter enclosure. He felt a little out of place; most children were there with their mothers or both of their parents. But he was Jim Sterling, so he still strode about as if he was as at home there as the rest of them. Olivia was proud to be the one at his side. Even at only three years old, she was proud of her father, loved him more than anyone else in the entire world.

"Look at the otters daddy!" she cried, pointing and bouncing up and down.

Chuckling, he picked her up so she could get a better view. "They're lovely, darling."

"Can I take one home?"

"Sorry love, I don't think they'd be too keen on us otter-napping one of their exhibits."

Olivia pouted. "Can I have a suffed one?" She still had problems pronouncing the word "stuffed."

"That I can manage."

She squealed happily and wrapped her arms around his neck and he carried her to the small gift shop, her small hands tugging absently at his hair. A woman there with her twin boys gave him a passing look of pity; the clearly single father in his early thirties, looking after a daughter he obviously loved, but so young to look so tired and haggard. He didn't notice the sigh of sympathy, too busy being pulled around the shop by his little girl. It wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last time that people looked at him and wondered how he managed to keep it together with no one to turn to when the going got rough.

He had his co-worker and friend Nathan Ford, but even their relationship had grown strained since Sterling had assumed the full responsibility of his child. Nate was understanding and tried to help in any way he could (not that he actually knew Sterling had a daughter, just that he came to work everyday looking exhausted, but as on top of his game as ever), but he had his wife, he had no idea what Sterling went through on a daily basis. Not that Sterling ever voiced how difficult it was, of course. That was simply against his nature. He acted like taking care of his daughter was no harder than washing dishes or doing the laundry. One of his many gifts was the ability to make anything look effortless.

"That one!" she exclaimed, pointing to a velvety soft plush otter on a shelf.

He smiled and kissed the top of her head, pulling it off the shelf and placing it in her hands, letting her hand it to the cashier when they walked up front. The woman smiled as Sterling swiped a credit card, the little girl bouncing happily in his arms. Olivia already had long blond hair, though it was slightly curly and made her look like a porcelain doll. She was such a beautiful child. Sterling had various framed pictures of her, though his favorite was on his nightstand. It was of him and her on her third birthday, and he smiled even as she shoved a piece of cake into his hair.

They went to every single exhibit, had lunch, returned to the gift shop for a stuffed turtle, revisited the otters, and _finally_ came to a stop on a park bench beside the reptile exhibit. His legs ached from walking so much and even though repossessing stolen merchandise often required a good bit of walking, he was starting to feel rather over exerted. Olivia was holding her plushies, cuddling up to them and dozing in his arms. The waning afternoon light was warm against his skin, and he found himself nodding off as well. He leaned back on the bench, his arms secure around his small, half awake daughter.

Olivia and Sterling made quite a sight. They fell asleep together on the bench, his body laid over it and her curled up on his stomach, sleeping soundly as she snuggled up to him and her stuffed animals. Her blond curls fanned out under her head, Sterling's arms securely fastened around her even as they slept. Some days were harder than others, and sometimes he asked himself if he'd made the right decision…but then there were moments like these, and he knew everything was going to be okay.


End file.
